Moments
by Ryssa1457
Summary: Everybody's got their moments. Whether they're good or bad, everyone's got them. Drabble Collection
1. Fly Me To The Moon: Clay Carmine

Okay, hello! Some of you may know me as MiyonUchiha! But this is an almost exclusive Gears of War account.

Okay, so, this is my drabble collection. MOST OF THESE WILL ME CARMINE CENTRIC. Because I love the Carmines. Ben is my favorite. :D I might write a fanfiction about him. Whee! Ben needs a little love. And not to die.

ENJOY. [And review?]

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gears. This applies to all drabbles henceforth**.

—

**Fly Me to the Moon (Clay Carmine)**

Clay imagined it different ways every time, going off of information that he had gathered. The common theme in all of them was Ben's spirit going up and up and _up_. Ben would pass the stars and stand on the moon and look down at Sera.

"I wonder where Clay is," Ben would say.

And down, down, down past the stars back on Sera, Clay would say, irrelevant but true, "I miss you Squirt."

Ben would soar past Risea and maybe he'd learn where the Locust came from.

_Fly me to the moon..._

Ben had always loved to stargaze.


	2. Emergence: Locust Horde

**Emergence (Locust Horde)**

The ground rumbled and building shook on their foundations. Below the surface of Sera, something horrific was about to happen. In one small country of the former UIR, a child bounced a red ball on the pavement, happily oblivious to the small shudders in the ground.

The child's friends shouted to him to pass the ball so they could all play. The boy tossed the red ball and stumbled. The ground had moved.

Pavement began cracking and hulking, gray bodies carrying artillery rose out of the sink hole. The Locust raised their weapons and shouted viciously.

Emergence Day had arrived.


	3. Memory: Ben Carmine

**Memory (Ben Carmine - 5 yrs.)**

Ben held onto his older brother's hand. Anthony's fingers weren't as small or pudgy as his own five year old fingers. It had been Ben's first day of school and the nine year olds hadn't liked him at all. They'd pushed him in the dirt before the siren for a Locust emergence went off.

To his credit, Ben did not cry, even though he'd skinned his knee. Anthony was walking him home, sporting a black eye. Anthony held his own well against his peers. And all for his little brother. The baby, the squirt.

Ben loved his brother.


	4. Solitude: Marcus Fenix

**Solitude (Marcus Fenix - 35 yrs.)**

_Tick... Tick... Tick..._

He couldn't tell it h was imagining the sound of the clock or if the warden had finally changed the batteries in the all clock. For the first time since he'd been incarcerated, Marcus got some solitude in prison. Other inmates realized they wouldn't get a rise out of Marcus Fenix.

Even if the scarred his face.

Even if the scarred his body.

Of course, they'd be back. They'd think of something worse to do to him. But Marcus would be Marcus.

Even so, it would be the best idea to snatch up his moments of solitude.


	5. Childhood: Ben Carmine

**Childhood (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The inside of his helmet was fogging up. The humidity in the worm and the tears in his eyes weren't helping. He hadn't cried all that much in his life. Definitely once when Anthony died and once more when he was a kid.

Anthony had been wrestling with Clay and for some reason, Clay got mad and punched him in the face, breaking Anthony's nose. Anthony cried and Ben had laughed so Anthony punched _him_ in the face and so Ben cried too.

As Ben lay in the worm, helpless and alone, he realized he desperately wanted his childhood back.


	6. Dark: Anthony Carmine

**Dark (Anthony Carmine - 21 yrs.)**

Anthony hated darkness. He always had. As a kid, he'd sit in the room he shared with Ben and listen. The house would creak, its foundation would shudder and Kryll would scrabble at the roof.

Downtown could be heard, especially when Locust emerged. The guttural noises could be heard from miles away, he'd thought. Anthony would look at his Ben's sleeping silhouette and wish for sleep. But it was dark in sleep.

He snapped out of his memory and reloded quickly. There was still a war going on. Then his Lancer wouldn't work.

Anthony leaned forward.

_Fssh._

Sniper.

_Pop._

Darkness.


	7. Light: Anthony Carmine

**Light (Anothny Carmine - 18 yrs.)**

The fluorescent lighting was creepy and disconcerting. Coughing echoed around the hospital. Anthony wiped his sweaty palms on his military fatigues.

Ben was getting surgery done. Apparently, he'd gotten appendicitis while Anthony was in Basic. He'd gotten something congruent with military leave to come and see him. And now he was waiting on whatever doctor to tell him he could see Ben.

After waiting and waiting and _waiting_, Anthony was told Ben was alright and that he wanted to see his older brother.

Anthony noticed his fourteen year old brother's frightened face.

"I hate hospitals. It's dark, even with the lights on."


	8. 367: Victor Hoffman

**367 (Victor Hoffman)**

Three hundred sixty-seven days. It'd been a year, one whole _year_, since Emergence Day.

Hoffman rubbed his tired eyes. The COG was crumbling before the grubs and it was getting difficult to maintain defenses outside of Ephyra. Prescott kept trying to get the COG to unite all over Sera, but each country was worried about only one thing: defending its own borders.

There was no way humans would survive this war. There was absolutely no way.

But maybe if the human race could survive three hundred sixty-seven more days, the Locust would simply disappear.

But Hoffman doubted it.


	9. Dying: Ben Carmine

**Dying (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

Ben wanted to yell at Sergeant Fenix. _His_ squad had let Ben fall out of the Raven. Delta didn't even bother to shoot the bacteria until they realized "hey, the rook is screaming, let's help him."

He wanted to tell his sergeant that he was dying and that if they'd bothered to react a little fast, he might have been able to live. He wanted to scream that he hated Sergeant Fenix and Delta.

Instead, he gave Marcus a message that his family would probably never get.

With his dying breaths he whispered for his mother.

He died wishing he could live.


	10. Exit: Ben Carmine

**Exit (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The door was there. It was glowing and gold and EXIT flashed in sliver lettering above it. It was time to move on and he knew that, but he couldn't bring himself to open the glowing door.

Ben swallowed. He felt lost and empty and bare. His armor was back in the living world and all that he had was white pants and a white tunic. He knew it looked funny against his dark hair.

He swallowed again. Who would greet him on the other side?

Ben leaned and pushed on the door. A light flashed.

"Ben!" Anthony grinned, halo glimmering.


	11. Entrance: Ben Carmine

**Entrance (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The building was gigantic; Ridiculously and ominously huge.

Ben swallowed. He suddenly wondered if he was ready for Basic Training, and as he stood looking at one of the last ornate entrances still standing, he was about to go back home.

"It's not as scary as it looks," he could hear himself saying to Anthony when he was younger. He realized that his younger self was stupid, because it was terrifying.

But he had to do this. He had to do this for his brothers. He would not be the whimp of his family.

Taking a deep breath, he went in.


	12. Obsession: Dom Santiago

**Obsession (Dom Santiago - 34 yrs.)**

No one was really sure why kept up his search and, frankly, he wasn't quite sure either. Dom's search for this wife had become his reason for living, for breathing. His search for Maria was the most important thing to him.

The COG was secondary.

Even Marcus was secondary to locating his wife. She was his everything. Without her, life was meaningless.

And so he had to find her.

Marcus worried about him, he knew that. Marcus was worried Dom was losing his mind. Dom didn't think so. He though he was perfectly fine.

Marcus thought he was obsessed.


	13. Exotic: Ben Carmine

**Exotic (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

Ben hadn't ever had anything so delicious. At least, he couldn't remember ever having anything so wonderful. It was the best food in the while world, he was sure. He wished that rations tasted like this.

It was heavenly.

Anya sat across the table from him and had a small smile on her face. She'd made him this exotic food; the food he'd never known existed.

"This is the best thing in the while world, Lieutenant."

"Glad you like it. It was everywhere before E-Day."

"What is it?" Ben asked. It tasted _fabulous_...

"It's pizza," she replied.

"Ohhh."

Sounded exotic.


	14. Awesomeness: Anthony Carmine

**Awesomeness (Anthony Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

Frontline experience for the first time. Anthony was scared, really scared, but he couldn't help but feel exhilarated at the same time. He was going to kill his first Locust. Nausea made his stomach roll, but he gripped his Lancer tightly.

A grub jumped out from behind a building and made guttural noises resembling words. Anthony's heart jumped into his throat but he revved his chainsaw. And tore through flesh, muscle, and bone, throwing his weight into it.

The Locust drone was certainly dead now and its pieces slid to the pavement.

He'd killed a Locust.

And he felt _awesome_.


	15. Bird's Eye Perspective: Ben Carmine

**Bird's Eye Perspective (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The Raven bounced occasionally as it flew to the rendezvous point where the Gears would start the journey to Landown. Ben looked down out the open bay door of the Raven and studied the ground from the height of an airborne bird.

Where the granite foundation had been loosened, the land was torn and broken. A large hole had been opened up in the earth and looking into it made Ben's stomach turn. What if someone fell out of one of these? Would they suffer as they hit the ground?

Ben never wanted to all out of a Raven.


	16. Caffeine: Victor Hoffman

**Caffeine (Victor Hoffman)**

Officers lived on coffee. Hoffman was no exception. He was always forced to stay up for days at a time, working on strategies to fight the Locust or doing paperwork to please Prescott.

Coffee was what he lived on. Without it, he doubted he'd be able to function. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and signed another paper.

Third day without sleep.

He felt exhausted, but he was a cup of coffee at his elbow and that meant all was right with the world and he could stay awake as long as he needed to, maybe forever.

Praise be to caffeine.


	17. No Time: Ben Carmine

**No Time (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

There was no time to wait for his squad to come and save him. He was alone. Everyone was dead, just like he'd told Sergeant Fenix, and the Locust were surrounding him. Ben wasn't sure if he could keep this up.

He was petrified. He'd never had to take on a swarm of Locust by himself before, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to.

Watching his life go by, Ben realized that dying wasn't an option. He wanted to see the surface again.

He didn't have the time to wait for his squad.

He revved his chainsaw, hands shaking.


	18. 67: Dom Santiago

**67% (Dom Santiago - 34 yrs.)**

Bots took forever to do anything, Dom realized. They took an especially long time downloading information. And while Jack took forever downloading whatever it was they needed, Dom and Marcus would be forced to defend him.

And the machine wasn't physically or emotionally capable of appreciating their efforts.

Dom checked the progress of the bot and cursed loudly.

"67% of data extracted." That was a load of bull. Dom cursed and seethed at the slow progress.

If that bot got him and Marcus killed, he'd be so pissed.

Only 67% complete... They were so, unbelievably screwed.

Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ bot.


	19. Balloon: Ben Carmine

**Balloon (Ben Carmine - 5 yrs.)**

Ben's eyes teared up as his balloon slipped out of his hand. It floated up and up and he knew his poor balloon would be lonely, all the way up in the sky.

Anthony looked back as his two older brothers kept walking. He saw Ben's balloon and his crying brother and ran to catch the balloon.

Ben watched Anthony leap onto an old car and snatch the end of the string to pull the balloon down and return it to Ben's pudgy hands.

Ben was so happy he cried even more.

Anthony was the greatest brother in the world.


	20. Rubber Duckie: Ben Carmine

Ben was such a silly child. By the way, those numbers are the corresponding characters' ages.

And since it's chapter twenty, you guys can start reviewing now, if you haven't already.

:D

**---**

**Rubber Duckie (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs./reminisce) **

Ben remembered that as a child, he had been an idiot. He'd sometimes pull on swim trunks, run a bath, and just sit in the water and play with bath toys.

He remembered being such a moron, because his favorite bath toy was a stupid rubber duck. His rubber duck would take down pirate ships, sharks, and sea-faring dinosaurs [ones that Anthony would lave in the tub the night before].

He even had this stupid song he'd sing.

"Oh rubber duckie, you're the one~! You make bathtime so much fun!"

[Thinking back, he was surely the happiest idiot alive.]


	21. Breathe Again: Anthony Carmine

Okay. So, I wrote this one, and then wrote another _elaborate_ version. Both are posted.

I always thought Anthony and Ben were close... And note, that Anthony is older than Ben by four years, in my mind. So in this fic, Ben would be ten. If Anthony were eighteen, Ben would be fourteen.

—

**Breathe Again (Anthony Carmine - 14 yrs.)**

Once, when Anthony was fourteen, he'd almost gotten Ben killed. Ben was ten and was at that age where he'd follow Anthony _everywhere_. As the older brother, Anthony was fed up, so he'd taken a walk to dangerous downtown Jacinto. Ben had protested but came along anyway.

But then the ground rumbled and Locust rose out of the ground. Anthony sprinted in the opposite direction as a building fell.

...where was Ben?

Anthony's breath caught in panic.

Ben popped out of a rubble pile, coughing. The Locust had disappeared.

Anthony hugged Ben tight, muttering feverent apologies.

He could breathe again.

———

**(This is the more elaborate version. It begins with Anthony taking refuge from the Locust.)**

Anthony's back was pressed again the side of a building and his breath came in shallow, panicked gasps. He could hear buildings toppling over and Locust shouting at each other. He reached over and felt for Ben, but all his hand grasped was air.

He peeked out from behind the building to see that the Locust had disappeared just as quickly as they had arrived. There was no sign of his ten year old brother.

Anthony's heart stopped and his lungs shriveled.

He'd lost Ben. He'd run off and left a ten year old boy to fend for himself against Locust.

He stepped out from behind his building and started walking towards the now closed Emergence Hole.

"Ben!" Anthony cupped his hands around his mouth, "Ben! _Ben_!" His voice echoed for a few moments and when silence settled, he listened for a response.

There was none.

Anthony had known downtown Jacinto had loose foundation. He'd known that it was dangerous and that was exactly why he'd taken a walk with Ben; to scare him out of coming along everywhere with him.

And now he'd gotten Ben hurt or killed...

Serious panic was starting to set in when he heard rock shift. At first, he thought it was a Locust that had decided to stick around until he heard "Anthony" in a small voice.

Anthony almost tripped over his own feet as he turned to see Ben squirming out of a pile or rubble with a large scratch on the side of his face.

Ben coughed and Anthony ran to him, squeezing him in a hug.

"I'm so sorry Ben, so sorry," Anthony murmured.

Ben returned the hug and Anthony wiped the blood off of his little brother's cheek. He stood up and took Ben's hand in his own. He hadn't done hat since Ben was six.

Anthony squeezed Ben's hand and began to walk home. As he looked at his younger brother's dust covered body, and the lightly oozing scratch on his cheek, Anthony's breath caught and his eyes watered.

Ben glanced up at him and wiped his cheek.

"I love you, Anthony."

Anthony swore he was going to cry.

God he was the world older brother ever.


	22. Tomorrow: Dom Santiago

**Tomorrow (Dom Santiago - 34 yrs.)**

Dom had to keep hoping. If he stopped hoping, if he just gave up, he'd never find her. It's not like one day she'd pop into his arms.

So he couldn't give up his search.

He'd tell Marcus, "I'll find her tomorrow," and Marcus would humor him and say, "Of course." Dom was almost sure Marcus didn't believe it, but he'd never say so and Dom appreciated that.

And so Dom believed in tomorrow. He believed that he'd find Maria one day, hopefully tomorrow.

"I'll find her tomorrow," Don said, again.

"Of course," Marcus replied.

[Tomorrow would come one day.]


	23. TV: Maria

**TV (Maria)**

Maria hovered around the TV when she wasn't out for a walk or in the children's rooms. The news really was all that was on and it told of the new Locust incursions.

Dom would come home sometimes and he'd turn off the TV. He hated it when she watched TV. He thought it depressed her and worried her sick, and it did.

She'd scan the news and listen for the name "Dominic Santiago" in the list of the dead.

But Dom wasn't home most of the time and the TV gave her comfort.

[She was nothing without her Dom...]


	24. Kick in the Head: Ben Carmine

**Kick in the Head (Ben Carmine - 14 yrs.)**

Ben lay in a ball, covering his face with his arms. Someone grabbed his arms and pulled them away, kicking him in the nose, breaking it. Blood spurted from his nose and his eyes watered, but he didn't cry.

He lashed out, smacking a sixteen year old in the groin with his foot. The boy doubled over, hissing, the others crowding around their leader. Ben scrambled up and ran home.

He wiped his swollen face and opened his door, panting. Anthony sat on the couch, on leave.

"Ben are you okay?!"

"I'm fine," Ben murmured.

Anthony caught Ben's obvious lie.


	25. Family: Anthony Carmine

**Family (Anthony Carmine - 18 yrs.)**

Anthony should feel bad for beating up a sixteen year old boy who had already gotten kicked in the groin. He was technically beating up a minor, but this kid didn't know he was Ben's older brother and he was told he looked sixteen anyway.

He popped the boy in the face, swinging his head to the side. How dare this brat break his little brother's nose?

When Ben had come home with a bleeding nose and bruised face, Anthony's older brother instinct kicked in.

He dropped the boy and wiped his hands.

No one messed with his little brother.


	26. Can You Hear Me?: Ben Carmine

**Can You Hear Me? (Ben Carmine - 16.75 yrs.)**

Ben knew a lot of the others at Basic thought he was crazy, and it could be that he was, but he doubted it. It was simply a case of missing his brother.

However, to be courteous to his bunkmates, he only spoke to Anthony when the barracks were empty.

Anthony's tags were tucked under the collar of his fatigues and in the empty barracks, he told Anthony about his day.

It might be that he was crazy, because he could swear up and down on the Allfathers' graves that he heard Anthony reply, "Slow down Squirt. I can hear you..."


	27. Tattoo: Dom Santiago

**Tattoo (Dom Santiago - 34 yrs.)**

Dom didn't even feel the needles as he got Maria's name tattooed on his arm. He knew plenty of people who would think it tacky, but he honestly couldn't care less.

He needed something of her to have with him, more than just her picture. And so he had her name forever engraved where everyone would know just who he belonged to.

Everyone would know who was the most important person, his whole world.

It may very well be tacky to get his wife's name tattooed on his arm.

But... he couldn't care less.

[After all, Maria was all that mattered.]


	28. Under the Rain: Anthony Carmine

**Under the Rain (Anthony Carmine - 10 yrs.)**

Anthony held the wide umbrella over his and Ben's head. Clay wasn't home so Anthony had been assigned the chore of getting the rations and Ben had wanted to come along.

Ben held onto the rations as if it was the most important job ever, but suddenly he stopped walking.

Anthony watched him step closer to a building and lay down a small, open package of poultry.

"Ben! Don't waste rations!"

"Anthony, it's a cat." True to his word, a soggy, gray cat stepped forward and began eating.

Anthony sighed and held Ben's had tight.

Ben was such a sap.


	29. Horror: Marcus Fenix

**Horror (Marcus Fenix - 36 yrs.)**

The Slab was its own butchery. Marcus had seen men skinned alive and cut to pieces. Bodies hanging on meathooks dangled above the toilets in one of the bathroom. They had been skinned also.

What was worse was the noise of Locust outside the prison. Even before Dom had told him, he'd figured all the other inmates were gone.

It was frightening, hearing death coming at you and at the last minute being rescued by one of the few people who would always risk their lives for you.

"What happened in that prison?" Dom asked, carefully.

"You don't wanna know..."


	30. Breaking the Rules: Anthony Carmine

**Breaking the Rules (Anthony Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The Golden Rule of the Gears: "Take cover or die." [As opposed to "treat others the way you want to be treated."]

Sometimes, Anthony forgot that rule. Back at school, he'd been voted "Most Likely to Get Shot." His forgetfulness was probably why.

Locust fired over their heads and Anthony leaped over a barricade, firing.

"Dammit, Carmine! Get _down_!" Lieutenant Kim shouted.

"What?" And Anthony just stopped in the middle of a firefight.

Suddenly, the Locust were gone.

Lieutenant Kim came up to Anthony and slapped him upside the head.

"One day, you are going to get yourself shot."


	31. Red: Ben Carmine

**Red (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The color red was common in a Gear's life [_blood_], but recently, Ben had been getting a shorter and shorter fuse.

Baird was saying something on the way to the extraction point, sneering.

"Aren't you the brother of that stupid Gear who couldn't stay in cover?"

Ben saw red [and _black_] as turned to face Baird. He pulled back his arm and socked Baird in the face. Blood spurted out of Baird's nose.

"Shut up! Leave me the hell alone, or I'll stomp your face in!"

Ben jobbed off, hurt and angry and homesick.

Marcus went after him, sighing.


	32. Annoyance: Marcus Fenix

**Annoyance (Marcus Fenix - 36 yrs.)**

Marcus didn't often lose his temper. In fact, he'd never lost his temper, not really. His voice only got softer, colder. However, Damon Baird always brought him really close. Dom always told him how impressive his patience with Baird was.

It wasn't really all that remarkable, because there were times when he wanted to smash Baird's face in.

All he did was whine and complain about everything. Ab-so-lute-ly _everything_.

And, frankly, it pissed Marcus off.

"It's just the wind..."

"When was the last time the wind said '_hostiles_' to you?"

"Shut the hell up Baird."

Thank God for Dom.


	33. Stars: Ben Carmine

**Stars (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

Ben loved to stargaze. He didn't often see the stars because of the city. Electricity was cut off thirteen hours out of the day, and people usually used it at night. The dark scared everyone nowadays.

And so the lights prevented his stargazing.

But tonight, the sky was clear enough to see the stars, even past the signal smoke and fire. The stars looked at him.

The Raven arrived, obscuring the stars and then his stomach knotted.

["Stay out of that Raven," his inner voice said.]

A shooting star was just visible past the Raven.

[He wished he were home.]


	34. Locks: Marcus Fenix

**Locks (Marcus Fenix - 36 yrs.)**

Locks meant nothing to a Gear. With a Gear's weight thrown against a door or a Gear's strength against a lock, almost nothing could not be opened.

However, for what a Gear could not open, a bot was for.

Marcus watched as Jack cracked open the most important lock of Dom's life. A feeling of dread crept up Marcus' spine.

Dom was shaking in his boots and Marcus had the feeling he would be disappointed.

Marcus hated himself, hated the fact that he couldn't be happy for Dom.

"Maria!" Dom sounded so happy.

Marcus thought she was better off unfound.


	35. Sorrow: Ben Carmine

**Sorrow (Ben Carmine - 16.93 yrs.)**

Their mother had even said they were like twins, almost carbon copies of one another. Sure, they'd had their moments, but they were the closest out of all their brothers.

"What?" Ben asked again, voice shaking slightly.

"Anthony's dead." His mother's eyes were red and puffy, but truthfully, Ben hardly noticed.

She handed him Anthony's COG tags and something inside him broke. His eyes flooded and he clutched Anthony's tags to his chest. He sobbed and called out for his older brother.

What would he do without Anthony?

"He died a hero's death..."

[Why did that feel like a lie?]


	36. Standing Still: Ben Carmine

**Standing Still (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

"Then I wouldn't be able to see snipers so well then, would I?"

Ben's cheeks heated up under his helmet. He didn't know why, but he felt embarrassed. Dom was making fun of him, he just didn't know how.

It made him want to punch Dom in the face.

He stood still for a moment, clenching his fists.

[What right did he have to make an insult Ben didn't even get because he couldn't find his wife? She was probably dead anyway.]

"Rook, you okay?"

"Yeah." [Liar.]

"Carmine, there could be snipers in the area. Keep a lookout."

[Asshole.]


	37. Expectations: Marcus Fenix

**Expectations (Marcus Fenix - 34 yrs.)**

Good things were expected of Marcus. Everyone had always said so, anyway. With the status of his parents, he was expected to be a brilliant scientist.

High expectations had always been a part of his life.

Even in the army he was expected to be an instant officer, unbelievably exceptional.

That's why everyone had been shocked when he'd abandoned his post to save his father.

Maybe that's why he'd done it. Not only to save his father, but to prove to everyone that their expectations were _wrong._

He wasn't the perfect soldier.

[So they should stop expecting him to be.]


	38. Drowning: Anthony Carmine

This refers briefly to "Breathe Again". Just so you know.

—

**Drowning (Anthony Carmine - 14 yrs.)**

Their mother had specifically told them not to go to the harbor. It was past the outskirts where the Locust were, but the foundations was loose and dangerous.

Anthony walked along the pier, humming. Ben trailed carefully behind, nervous after their previous downtown excursion three weeks before.

Then some wood gave and Anthony landed in the water below.

He sucked in a lung full of seawater. Ben yelled, panicked.

He came up and Ben grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled. Anthony rose and felt for wood, pulling himself up.

He hugged Ben, shivering.

"Thank you."

Ben just hugged him tighter.


	39. Fantasia: Ben Carmine

Fantasia: n. Something possessing **grotesque**, bizarre, or unreal qualities

Reread that definition a couple times.

Okay?

Because I don't want people saying that it wasn't "fantasia"-y.

Besides. Ben has some angst. I swear. All teenagers do. He's not really crazy, just... he can't vent. You know?

—

**Fantasia (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

Eyless. His older brother was eyeless and grotesque and a Locust was_ ripping_ him _apart_. He could hear Anthony screaming for help but all he saw was bloodbloodblood — Anthony's blood, his own? — and death. The smell of blood was everywhere. He could ever taste it.

Ben launched forward screaming. A bullet wound decorated his brother's sightless skull.

He rammed the butt of his sniper rifle into the grub's face over and over screamingyellingbeating.

Suffer. Locust needed to suffer.

[Anthonygoneallgonepracticallytwinsgoneforeverandever.]

"Carmine!" Sergeant Fenix?

And, like that, his fantasia was gone along with Anthony's body.

[Was it ever really there?]


	40. Misfortune: Richard Prescott

**Misfortune (Richard Prescott)**

It was unfortunate. It was unfortunate that they had to deploy the Hammer. Everything outside of Tyrus would be incinerated. And that included Hoffman's wife. It truly was sad that she ran off. He was only doing as Prescott asked.

[What may kill many may, in the end, save the world.]

And, so, as sad as it was, everyone must make sacrifices.

All four men required to operate the Hammer of Dawn were present. Hoffman's hand was shaking. He felt like he was sentencing his wife to certain death.

Hoffman's eyes teared up.

[Yes, Prescott thought, it truly was unfortunate.]


	41. Safety First: Anthony Carmine

**Safety First (Anthony Carmine - 19 yrs.)**

"I heard," Anthony read aloud, alond in the barracks, "that you are going to get yourself killed." Ben was straightforward when he wanted to be, usually when he was concerned. "And so," he continued, "I sent you a good luck charm."

His brother was an idiot.

Anthony swung Ben's old keychain of a four leaf clover around his finger. A death's head emblem was painted on the back in silver.

Anthony finished reading the letter in his head.

'You can never be too careful, Anthony. Be safe.'

Ben sounded like their mother.

[But he kept the keychain close anyway.]


	42. Keys: Ben Carmine

**Keys (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

There was only enough time for a short rest in the darkness and everyone was trying to snatch a nap.

A soft, gentle jingling woke Marcus. Ben couldn't sleep.

"Carmine, what're you doing?"

"Nothing."

"What is that noise?"

"My house keys, sir — uhm, Sarge."

Marcus sat up and saw Carmine looking at his brother's COG tags with a set of keys strung along the chain. He really did seem like a homesick kid, lonely and out of his element.

"I lost these keys once. Clay and Anthony helped me find 'em."

Ben was lonely.

[At least Marcus had his squad.]


	43. Abandoned: Ben Carmine

**Abandoned (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

He did love his oldest brothers; really, he did. It's just that, even when he was little, they weren't around much. So, he spent time with those tolerated him: his mother and Anthony.

He didn't know when he started thinking his oldest brothers abandoned him, but he same to rely on Anthony a lot for company.

And then, one day, he was gone too. Gone forever.

Idley he wondered, fidgeting with Anthony's tags, if everyone would leave him. [Though his other brothers _were_ out there...]

In the end, though, it was true.

[Even his squad ended up abandoning him.]


	44. Fairy Tale: Ben Carmine

**Fairy Tale (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

War was not a fairytale. It was empty and lonely and sad. Ben knew a lot of stories where a Gear would go home and see his wife and not return to service because he wouldn't bear to leave her again.

Mostly, though, the wife or the Gear would die or disappear.

Ben had heard about tons of cases, but Dom's was truly sad. He'd heard Sergeant Fenix talking about it.

Ten years. That was a long time to look for someone.

After hearing about Dom, Ben's stomach turned.

He had a feeling there was no fairytale ending for Dom.


	45. Big Tree: Dom Santiago

**Big Tree (Dom Santiago - 8 yrs.)**

He squiggled up the tree in his front yard, slowly, so as not to gall and break his arm, like Carlos had done the year before, scrambling up the tree like a monkey.

Dom settled on a perfectly curved branch and look at the whole neighborhood for his perch. It _was_ the biggest tree on the street.

He swung his legs, watching people go by and waving to those he knew.

And then Maria suddenly appeared in her front yard. He practically jumped from the tree in embarrassment.

He knew he'd chicken out, waiting for her. He'd known he would.


	46. Gray: Ben Carmine

Note: References to "Light". Just so you know.

—

**Gray (Ben Carmine - 16.89 yrs.)**

Ben hated hospitals. He'd only been in one once, but he remembered it. Hospitals were layered in shades of gray, colorless and dead. Shadows were everywhere. Darkness his in every room, every corner.

As he looked around the exam room where he'd get his physical, he swallowed.

The gray walls were pressing in on him and he felt smothered, strangled.

The doctor arrived and told him that he was clear and was fit enough to be a Gear, of only a little thin and lanky.

Ben practically ran out of the hospital.

_"It's dark, even with the lights on."_ [He _hated_ hospitals...]

He vomited on the sidewalk.


	47. Lanterns: Ben Carmine

**Lanterns (Ben Carmine - 6 yrs.)**

The warm glow of the lanterns barely penetrated the fog of sleep. Anthony had set them up, keeping the dark at bay.

"Anth'ny, what're you doing?" Ben rubbed his eyes, sitting up slowly. "Sun's not up..."

"Can't sleep. It's dark."

Ben blinked groggily.

"Mm. I can stay up with you."

"Thanks." Anthony plopped on Ben's bed and they sat in silence for a moment.

"Do girls really have cooties, Anth'ny?"

"Nah. It's just something boys make up to make girls angry."

"Oh."

Ben ended up falling back asleep two hours later.

Anthony knew it was the thought that counted.

[He loved his little brother.]


	48. Mama: Ben Carmine

You may not know this, but in Gears 2 multiplayer, on a rare occasion, when Ben gets torqued and before he explodes, he'll cry "Mommy!"

It made me cry.

**----**

**Mama (Ben Carmine - 17 yrs.)**

The fall was a long one. His legs snapped on impact.

Ben cried.

He got tunnel vision and black spots floated around his eyes. He hurt. He hurt everywhere. Why did he fall out of the Raven? All Gears thought they were the safest damn things in the whole wide world. Even the rotor noise was comforting. Everyone thought so.

[Oh, yeah. He hadn't had a safety line. Right.]

He pulled himself up on his arms, gritting his teeth, and crawled away from the worm's giant teeth.

Then he heard them. The whatever-the-hell-they-were. The bacteria things. They came at him, all at once, mouths frothing.

He screamed as one or two of them latched onto him and dragged him deeper into the worm. He saw the worm's mouth open before he was shaken and teeth dug further into his flesh.

Ben's eyes were streaming and he hurt so much. Sobs shook his body.

He grasped for something, anything to free himself. Everything slipped through his fingers,

He was going to die.

He cried out for help, in anguish and in pain.

"Mama! _Mama_!" He hurt, he hurt. [Mama, mama, come save me!]

He really needed his mother right then.


	49. Fishes: Anthony Carmine

This is before Emergence Day. Anthony would be around seven, by my timeline, on Emergence Day, and Ben would be three. That's the actual Gears timeline. I was never really sure how old Anthony was.

So anyway, this is a year before E-Day.

Oh. And I edited "Mama." You should go reread it.

And review.

:D

**-----**

**Fishes (Anthony Carmine - 6 yrs.)**

Anthony held his two-year-old brother in his lap as he watched a documentary on invasive fish. He didn't really get it. Ben was chewing on the remote, changing the volume and channels constantly.

Anthony only understood that invasive fish were bad.

Clay walked towards the front door and Anthony turned to look at him.

"Why does that fish," Anthony asked, pointing to the TV, "eat that one and take over?"

"Because the other fish is weak," Clay replied.

"Could something do that to people?"

"No, Clay said confidently, "People have no predators." And with that, Clay left to go do whatever it was Gears did.

"Hear that Ben? We're the most powerful things in Sera."

Ben only hummed, continuing to chew on the remote.


	50. Swirly: Ben Carmine

**Swirly (Ben Carmine - 4 yrs.)**

"Mama!" Ben skittered into the kitchen, followed closely by Anthony, and he wrapped his arms around his mother's legs, matching her cook some kind of sweet. "What're you makin'?"

"Cookies," she said, "for the neighbors. I might have some left over."

"I wanna help!" Anthony said, acting like the man of the house.

"Me too!" Ben said, not to be outdone.

In the end, they made a small batch of cookies each. Ben's were lopsided and had a little swirl in the center of them.

"The best cookies I've ever seen," their mother announced.

[Ben was so proud of himself.]


	51. Pinecone: Anthony Carmine

Now we're into the three hundred word stuff! Give or take. I have a habit of occasionally miscounting.

I looove writing about Anthony and Ben as kinds. All the shenanigans they get into. Heehee.

Ben is three in this one. Basically just turned. Anthony is seven. And I imagine that their papa is dead and that their mama would be very sad and Clay and the other brother and the mama wouldn't even pay attention to Anthony and Ben. So, here you go.

I would also like to point out that I don't pick out these prompts. I just make them Gears-y.

ENJOY.

——

**Pinecone (Anthony Carmine - 7 yrs.)**

Anthony was walking around the city park, or at least what was left of it. Gears were everywhere. E-Day was barely a week ago. Even at three, Ben could see that Anthony was distressed and Anthony knew it.

He looked behind him to see Ben tottering after him on his wobbly legs. He waited for Ben to catch up. His little brother stumbled and grabbed onto Anthony's leg. He petted Ben's head and took Ben's hand, guiding him through the wrecked park.

They really shouldn't be out, but their mother was so upset and their older brothers so tense, afraid to leave the house because she was still reeling from the death of their father, that Anthony felt smothered. And besides, no one was keeping an eye on Ben, so it was better to take him along.

"Hey, kid," Anthony looked up to see a Gear talking to him. "What're you doing out here? Don't you know what's going on?"

Anthony ignored him.

"Kid!"

Ben frowned and stopped walking. "Iss Anth'ny. Leave him alone."

The Gear scowled, but before he could begin yelling, his squad called him and he stalked off. Ben's frown remained in place until the Gear was gone. Anthony started walking only to realize Ben was looking at something on the ground. He picked it up and brought it to Anthony.

"For you!" Ben grinned, holding out a pinecone. Anthony knelt down, taking the pinecone. His eyes watered. Today was his birthday. And what with E-Day, it was all but forgotten.

He cried.

"Iss okay, Anth'ny. Iss okay." Anthony knew that Ben didn't know what was wrong, but the little kid tried. That was what counted.

When they finally went home, Anthony put the pinecone on his bedside table. He kept it there from then on.


	52. Togetherness: Ben Carmine

Hey! I know I haven't posted much, but I've been busy.

And... it's another Ben Carmine one. I knoooow I'm on a Carmine binge, but I just adore Benny. He's so cute. How I picture him. And the way that he talks.

This story came from when I got my boyfriend's jacket form the dryer and put it on. It felt so awesome and I could aaaalmost put him right there with me. [He's in Wisconsin and I'm in Florida sooo...] Anyway! Note: Clay and the other one, they're getting money. They're the money makers. They're Gears. So this little family gets to spend time together.

Enjoy!

[And review?]

**---**

**Togetherness (Ben Carmine - 4 yrs.)**

Ben rushed to the dryer as soon as it beep-beep-beeped that the king sized comforter was done. He opened the door and pulled it out, swamped by it's size and overcome with warmth from the dryer.

"An'thny! The comf'rter is ready!" He wondered if his big brother heard him, and sure enough, Anthony got under the comforter and they started walking it towards the TV, a small space heater sitting safely away from where they would situate themselves. After all, between the hours of the night was the only time electricity could be used.

The two bothers curled up in the giant comforter and began watching a DVD on the player that might, or might not, work for much longer. It was Ben's favorite movie about a soldier who goes off to war and his sweetheart sneaks along and joins, as a woman, not a fake man, and they're in different companies, writing letters to each other when they're not as far away from each other as they think. Anthony said it was a good movie too. They both liked the dramatic and gory parts.

Their mom shuffled into the room, a small smile on her face as she saw their heads poking out of the comforter still radiating heat. Small smiles were common on her. She was still sad that their father wasn't there anymore.

"I thought you were going to help me fold that?"

"But mama," Ben said, turning his small head up, eyes round and big, just the way adults like them if you want something, "it juuuust got outta the dryer. It's warm."

"Can we please keep it? It's winter-time." Anthony chimed in. "And we were cold. It'll only be until the warmth runs out."

"Do you have room for one more?"

Ben grinned that baby's grin and held up his corner of the big blanket for his mother. She sat down and crawled under, her shoulder pressed to Ben's, a real smile sitting on her face for the first time in a year and a half.

"Mama?" Anthony asked, cuddling closer to his little brother, who in turn, put his head on his older brother's shoulder, for it was closer to the ground than his mother's, "When the heat runs out, can we put it back in the dryer?"

She smiled and Ben thought that they should all do this more often, sit together and watch good movies.

"Of course."

Until then, the small family, at least until the other brothers came home, curled together, happy; and for once, the war outside didn't touch them.


	53. Churning: Augusts Cole

**Churning (Augustus Cole - 33 yrs?)**

Ever since he was little, Cole had gotten motion sick. His mama would always give him some medicine for long car rides that would be on bumpy roads and he'd take some medicine with him when he had to fly places for thrashball games when he got older. If he didn't, he usually ended up vomiting.

"It'sa good thing I don't get sick b'cause of runnin'," Cole would tell his mama on the phone, "or I wouldn't be doin' this."

But now that the only transportation were tumbling Raven's, Cole was having trouble keeping his stomach from rolling with the helicopter. He had no medicine and, in retrospect, he wished he'd thanked his mama for the medicine in the first place or he'd damn well be miserable.

Cole peeked out of the open bay and cringed that the tossing landscape. So far, he hadn't thrown up on a Raven, but he wasn't sure how long that was going to be.

As soon as the Raven landed, Cole jumped out and went down on his hands and knees so that the world wasn't spinning with motion sickness. Baird and Jan Rojas hopped out of the Raven after him. Baird's boots came into his line of sight, almost right in front of his nose.

"Jesus, Cole," Baird said, getting his I'm-about-to-be-a-dick voice ready, "these theatrics every time we go places by Raven really need to stop."

"Baird, I'm not feeling so-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's not like you've thrown up."

"Baird..."

"Hey, Cole Train, you okay?" At least Rojas was concerned.

"And another thing!" Baird continued.

"Damon, baby, I'm about to..." Cole's stomach did one final backflip and he vomited right on Baird's boots. The rations didn't look so good normally, and they certainly didn't look any better covering Baird's boots.

But Baird's expression was priceless. Rojas found it just as funny. Even though Cole's stomach was threatening a repeat performance, he couldn't help but laugh at Baird's face.

"Baird, baby, you should see your _face_!"

(Baird made sure to stand further away the next trip.)


End file.
